During Issue1 Vol1, I mentioned there were some things that I wanted to accomplish within the last couple of months. Here is that list, showing what we accomplished:

Complete implementation of PVP Arenas. - 1/3rd complete.

Begin an advertising campaign. - Did not complete.

Redesign the rules wall and update /rules. - Completed

Find a way to implement an Adventure Map - Cancelled

Redesign the server banner. - Complete

Consider more contests to entice players. - Did not complete.

Here, is a list of things I expect that we should be able to do within the next couple of months:

Integrate Facebook with the Forums for Easy Login

Begin an advertising campaign.

Begin a contest to redesign spawn.

Entice more players to become VIPs.

Have more Drop Parties.

Consider more contests to entice players to stay and play.

As I said before, I am always open to new and exciting ideas. I urge each and every one of you to make sure you keep your minds open to new ideas, and if you think of anything - pass it on, either to myself in a PM or Skype message, or to a Mod. We need to think of more contests to have, for one thing.

HALCYON HAS A NEW RANK

TODAY, Storm and I agreed to implement a new rank of TRUSTED. This rank is ONLY available via applications from players with ranks of ADEPT or higher. A very LIMITED number of players will have access to this rank, due to specific access rights this rank will have.

To apply for TRUSTED, go to the General Discussion section and create a new topic titled [PLAYERNAME] FOR TRUSTED. In the body of your topic, make your case. Remember: Only ADEPTS and ELITES may apply for this rank.

If for any reason, you are caught breaking specific rules tied to the TRUSTED rank, you will be demoted to your original rank, either Adept or Elite, and may lose the ability to apply for TRUSTED in the future, AS WELL AS be banned if the infraction is severe enough.

IMPLEMENTATION OF PVP ARENAS

The Dome Project officially opened a month ago and has little love. There was some drama at first, but since then it has all died down. A new rule is being added, regarding The Dome: If you're not active in The Dome for 2 months, you forfeit your purchased land/shop and it goes back on the market. The reason for this is because I've had players come to The Dome, buy land, and then not come back. This is unfair to those players who do decide to play there.

Nuchiha and Aang have been AWOL for some time. Due to this, their tower-defense-style PVP arena has been put on hold.

SERVER BANNER REDESIGN

You may have noticed that the forums have a new banner! Miko_Rei_Hino designed the banner, and I plan on applying that to our Facebook site soon!

ADVENTURE MAP IMPLEMENTATION

The idea to implement an adventure map has been cancelled, due to the logistics with including another "world" on our current PVE server. Once we have more hardware available to install a second or third server, we may revisit this idea.

SPAWN REDESIGN CONTEST

One of the major complaints I get from players, is that our spawn is hard to navigate. People constantly ask how to leave spawn and where they can build.

How can you help? By designing a new spawn. I challenge everyone to build a mockup of spawn, either on singleplayer, or on our server, and share it with everyone. What we're looking for is a smoothly-designed, easily navigational spawn area, where the players won't get lost and won't constantly ask us where to go. It should include a rules wall, an admin shop area and a VIP shop section, but other, optional areas include Admin HQ and Jail.

How do you participate? Make your spawn mockup and post screenshots in a General Discussion thread titled SPAWN CONTEST - [Playername]. include as many images as you can to show off your design, and if you're making the mockup within your own region on our server, provide coordinates to it so we can take a look in person!

LOOKING FOR VIPs

So how do we increase our attractiveness to other players? How do we expand to provide more services to you current players? How can we reduce lag while providing you with the plugins you'd like to see? We rely on VIPs.

In order for me to be able to provide another world or server type to play on, one of two things need to happen: I either need to win the lottery, or more people need to become VIPs. Without donations, we're stuck being a 40-man server with only one play type. Without donations, if our current hardware fails, our server will be down for an extended amount of time.

How do you become a VIP? You visit the donation link on this forum and pay any amount you wish. The money you send to us stays in our Paypal account until we have an acceptable balance to provide the services I need to render, such as buying new hardware, or paying for ads.

What do you get as a VIP? As a VIP, you gain access to the spawn VIP shops plots and the magic carpet spell.